Mysterious Beginnings

Despite his international notoriety, historians know little about Billy the Kid’s youth, specifically his life before arriving in New Mexico and his origins and family.

Billy the Kid’s exact birthdate and location remain unknown. Scholars often cite 1859 as his likely birth year, but he listed his age as 25 in 1880, placing the date closer to 1856. In the end, there is no definitive evidence for either date or any other.  In their highly fictionalized biography, The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett and Ash Upson stated that Billy’s birthday was November 23, 1859. However, November 23 is conveniently the same date as Ash Upson’s. As far as Billy’s birthplace is concerned, researchers have suggested a dozen different locations. Billy noted on the 1880 census that he was born in Missouri.

Most acquaintances who knew Billy and his family before his time as an outlaw agreed that his birth name was Henry McCarty and his mother’s name was Catherine McCarty. Billy also had a sibling, possibly a half-brother named Joseph, believed to be the younger of the two. Later in life, Billy’s brother Joseph always claimed the family originated in New York. As for Billy’s father, no concrete evidence exists supporting any of the numerous possibilities and theories put forth by researchers.

In the end, Billy’s origins remain an enduring mystery.